Abstract:
When enacted in 1978, the Bankruptcy Code was heralded as a consumer protection victory. It gave families in financial trouble a complex array of legal options, including the ability to repay their debts over a number of years in chapter 13 bankruptcy. That new option was lauded by experts and became popular across the nation.
The Debtor brought a Motion for Turnover of a boat used to haul construction material, that had been seized by the North Carolina Department of Revenue. The NCDOR objected on procedural grounds that an Adversary Proceeding was required.
The Bankruptcy Court rejected this, holding that the "relationship between §§363, 542(a), and 1303 gives chapter 13 debtors the right to demand turnover" since, pursuant to 11 U.S.C.